Capillary
/kəˈpɪl.ə.ri/noun
Relating to the tiny blood vessels that connect arteries and veins, or to something very thin and hairlike.
Did you know?Capillaries were named for their hairlike thinness from Latin capillāris, and that same hair-root also lives on in words about skulls, scalps, and even the capillary action that makes liquid climb upward.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kap-
“to seize, grasp”
Latin
Latin
caput
“head”
Latin
Latin
capillus
“hair of the head”
Late Latin
Latin
capillāris
“hairlike; pertaining to hair”
17th Century
English
capillary
“a hairlike vessel or structure”
Modern English
English
capillary
“a tiny blood vessel or hairlike structure”